What They Did Darin and his father-in-law, Bob Lineker (pictured below), tore down an L-shaped wall that cut off the kitchen from the living room. Then they replaced the cooking area's oak cabinets with maple Lexington models by Kitchen Craft and faced them with recessed-panel doors and brushed-chrome pulls. To prevent traffic jams, they shuffled the placement of their new stainless steel KitchenAid appliances, relocating the refrigerator away from the stove and against a nearby wall, a move that yielded 5 extra feet of counter space. With the walls gone, they were also able to add an island, which Kathryn designed to store bakeware at one end and seat four at the other.

How They Pinched a Few Pennies In addition to doing all the demo, prep, and painting work themselves, the couple chose slate gray Formica for the counters instead of stone. "Everyone thinks it looks just like the real thing," says Darin.

Why Less Mortar Is More Hansen purchased mosaic tiles held together by a peel-away paper facing. Fearful that the new tiles would not stick to the old ones, he applied an extra-thick coat of thin-set. After installing the tiles and letting everything dry, he removed the paper and found that excess mortar had oozed into the spaces where the grout needed to go. He spent days grinding away the stuff using a Dremel tool with a brush attachment.

What He Did Hansen put up new drywall to cover the purple-painted stucco and hung sheets of 1-inch-square gray mosaic tiles over the existing white wall tiles. In place of a beaten-up, wood-laminate sink cabinet, which blocked entry into the tight 5-by-7-foot bathroom, he installed a smaller pedestal sink with a Moen faucet, positioning a large round mirror from Ikea above it. Then he switched out the old commode for a low-flow model, straddled the tank with a glass-topped wire shelf for extra storage, and mounted a medicine cabinet above it. Hansen also hired a professional to refinish the rusty cast-iron tub.

What They Had A 1,000-square-foot eyesore. But despite a leaky roof, shoddy bedroom addition, and landscaping that featured out-of-control lilac bushes, the house was in an up-and-coming neighborhood. Plus, its large lot left plenty of room to grow.

What They Needed A comfortable starter home for Linda and Ken Fricka's daughter and son-in-law, Alison and Chris Jernegan, who were expecting their first child, Evan.

What They Did Ken and Chris demolished the bedroom addition, which took up half of the home's front porch. They uncovered termite damage in the process so decided to reframe the entire facade, adding a raised-panel Pella door, a pair of 20-pane Andersen windows, and cedar siding, which is painted Dunn-Edwards' Riverbed. Then they paid a waste hauler to cart away junk left in the backyard by previous tenants, including an abandoned car that had gone unnoticed in the tall weeds. Finally, they installed an underground sprinkler system, poured a concrete front walk, laid St. Augustine grass sod, and planted rhododendrons.

Why Their Checking Account Isn't Larger The family initially hired two "contractors" to replace the roof, both of whom botched the job. They had a licensed professional undo the damage, but not before $6,000 had been wasted.

What They Had A cramped 72-square-foot laundry room with no counter space and a closet-hogging water heater.

What They Wanted After 30 years of marriage, not much—just a place to wash up after gardening, store cleaning supplies, and stash unmentionables. "This room is the first one guests see when they come in the back," says Murielle. "It was unsightly with all of our stuff out in the open."

How They Cleaned Up Their Dirty Laundry First they hired a plumber to relocate the water heater from the closet to the garage (a net move of only 3 feet). The reclaimed space gave them room to add much-needed shelving and stow the ironing board. Then they hung a pair of simple white wall cabinets above the washer and dryer. Next to the appliances, they located a 48-inch-wide cabinet topped with a granitelike laminate, a stainless steel sink, and a white tile backsplash. Ed replaced some of the tiles with smaller yellow, blue, and green mosaics left over from one of Murielle's projects (a picnic table with built-in mosaic "place mats," if you're curious). Pleased with the look, he snipped additional tiles and used them to create a chair rail that runs along the other walls.

Why It Pays to Read Ed spotted plans for a fold-out drying rack in a magazine—then built one, positioning it near the window to catch incoming breezes.

How They Pulled the Project Off ... Susanne pried off the backsplash tiles, then Steven tore out the countertops and took a reciprocating saw to the hollow half-wall, cutting it down to counter height. Meanwhile, after doing a little research, Susanne motored off to Sears, where she ordered $7,000 worth of stainless steel KitchenAid and Kenmore appliances. (The single-day shopping spree made it easy to remember warranty dates.) Instead of replacing the sturdy but outmoded cabinets, the couple had the drawers and doors repainted, color-matching them to Kelly Moore's Navajo White (which is on the walls). Then they installed black granite countertops with a generous overhang that serves as a breakfast bar. Although the remodel didn't add any square footage, new 16-inch terra-cotta-flecked floor tiles, cleverly set on the diagonal, make the space seem larger.

...Or at Least 99 Percent of It Refinishing proved difficult, so the Larsons eventually sent the cabinet doors and drawers to a professional, but not before precious time had been lost. When Thanksgiving arrived, the cabinets were still faceless, the only part of the remodel that had not been completed. "Hey, it's just family," says Susanne.

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